By Emily Kemp, Special to the Review
Fresh from Merritt’s Rockin’ River Country Music Fest to Revelstoke’s Grizzly Plaza are up and coming girl-next-door duo Bees and the Bare Bones.
Madison Olds, Abby Wale and their former band-mate Chloe Beauchamp-Brisson (who decided to focus on school) were the 2016 Chevy Tailgate winners. They went to Nashville where they recorded their hit Fool, a modern day on-and-off love story captured in a breathy rock country style.
The duo will perform the Summer Street Festival this Saturday, Aug. 12. The Review chatted to Olds and Wale about how they’re coping with their sudden success.
How was the Merritt festival?
The show was incredible. We were given such a warm welcome by the crowd and it made our very first festival experience so memorable. We are super grateful that Becca and Kenny Hess took a chance on us and gave us such a great spot in their festival. I mean the same stage as Kacey Musgraves and Willie Nelson – unbelievable!!
What can people expect from your Revelstoke show?
They can expect witty banter, endless energy, some recognizable tunes and some new originals that we hope they fall in love with.
How are you dealing with your sudden success?
It has been a whirlwind. We are currently taking it one day at a time, which makes it more manageable and helps us to remain excited instead of becoming overwhelmed.
How do you keep it positive working together?
We are both so different and we celebrate those differences in our music and our performance. Our differences complement each other and it is impossible not to love someone who enjoys creating music with you. We tend to understand each other when one of us brings a concept to the table to write about and it just becomes a super fun creative experience working together.
How long have you been playing and writing?
Madison has been writing music and playing in the Kamloops community for the last six years. Abby has enjoyed writing and playing music on her own but has been playing publicly for the last year.
Where do you hope to be a year from now?
We have been working on our original music and on developing an album. We are working with some key people in Nashville and will be heading to Los Angeles in late August. Overall, in the next year, our dream would be to release an album, play some more festivals and go on tour with an awesome band that we can learn from and grow through the experience.
Anything else?
The only thing that we can add is how critical community support has been for us to get where we are. That community includes family, friends, Kamloops, B.C., and other supporters across Canada and the U.S. We couldn’t be more grateful that our local communities have given us a chance to share our music and to develop as artists. We couldn’t be more thankful for the Facebook likes, Instagram follows and Spotify listens. We wouldn’t be doing this without this support.
Bees and the Bare Bones play the Summer Street Festival in Grizzly Plaza this Saturday, Aug. 12., from 6:30–9:30 p.m.
